Biersuppe (Biersuppe)
Overview
Biersuppe is an old German soup made with beer. Light or dark beer is heated with a little sugar, a cinnamon stick, a few cloves and lemon zest, while in a separate bowl egg yolks are whisked with milk or cream and a spoonful of flour or cornflour. The hot beer is poured slowly onto the egg mixture, and the soup is returned to a low heat and stirred until it thickens slightly without boiling. It is served poured over cubes of toasted bread or rye bread, and some regional versions are salty, with caraway, onion and grated cheese instead of sugar and spice.
History
For centuries beer soup was a common breakfast in Germany and much of northern Europe, eaten by farmers, workers and nobles alike before coffee became popular. In the eighteenth century, King Frederick the Great of Prussia famously praised the beer soup of his childhood and complained that coffee was replacing it. Today it is an old-fashioned curiosity, sometimes revived in brewery inns and in winter as a warming remedy.
Main ingredients
Beer, milk, egg yolks, sugar, cinnamon, bread. The soup is built on beer and milk and is usually served hot. Diet: vegetarian; not usually gluten-free.
Explore: Egg soups · More soups from Germany
Recipe
Method
- 1
Heat the beer with the sugar, cinnamon, cloves and lemon zest until steaming, then strain.
- 2
Whisk the egg yolks with the milk and cornflour in a bowl.
- 3
Pour the hot beer slowly onto the egg mixture, whisking all the time.
- 4
Return to the pan and stir over a low heat until slightly thick, without boiling.
- 5
Season with salt and pour over the toasted bread.
- ✓
Serve. About 25 min from start to bowl.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.
